Guyana to install oil terminal, vows fair play

Guyana approved a $600mn onshore oil terminal headed by a local consortium, and promised fair play for foreign contractors eyeing opportunities in the country's burgeoning oil and gas industry.

The Vreed-en-Hoop project will be installed on the left bank of the mouth of the Demerara river, 14km (8.7mi) from the capital of Georgetown. It will include an offshore terminal, dry docks, a fabrication yard, umbilical preparation and spooling yard, warehousing, a helipad and wharves and berths, according to Guyanese consortium NRG Holdings that secured the approval from the country's environmental protection agency (EPA).

The project will support government efforts to increase local content and provide services now coming from Trinidad and Tobago, NRG said.

The approval of the project comes days after the US complained that US companies wanting to invest in oil support services in Guyana are hamstrung by procurement procedures, lengthy permitting and uncertain approval processes.

These challenges persist even when the companies follow submission guidelines, US ambassador to Guyana Sarah Ann Lynch said.

Guyana "will work aggressively to address the challenges of doing business" in the country, president Irfaan Ai said.

"Already, we are working to create a single window where investors will have to submit one set of documents that can be accessed by every regulator."

On the deepwater Stabroek block this week, ExxonMobil found more oil at the Pinktail and Turbot-2 wells, bringing to 24 the number of discoveries since 2015.

Pinktail encountered 220ft (67m) of net pay in high quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoirs, while Turbot-2 uncovered 43ft of net pay in a newly identified, high quality hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoir, ExxonMobil said.

The US major started production of 32.1°API Liza crude in December 2019 with partners Hess and Chinese state-owned CNOOC unit Nexen. Current output of 120,000 b/d is projected to rise to over 800,000 b/d by 2025.

By Canute James